Zeon Corp. (Tokyo) has completed construction of a recycling plant for cyclo-olefin polymers (COP; product names: Zeonex and Zeonor) at its Takaoka Plant. Zeon is set to begin recycling its own products for the first time, and the new plant will not only further differentiate Zeon’s COP products, but also contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions. The new plant, construction of which began in the summer of 2022, will recycle waste resin generated when processing COP into film. COP film (product name: ZeonorFilm) is widely used as retardation film for displays, taking advantage of optical stability and low water absorbency. For this reason, recycled resin to be used as raw material must be as high in quality as original resin, which had been difficult for conventional recycling technologies to achieve and maintain transparency and high purity. Zeon’s groundbreaking technology has made it possible to produce recycled resin with the same level of quality as original resin. Zeon plans to reuse the recycled resin to manufacture optical films in response to the robust demand that is expected to continue. The plant has a processing capacity of 6,000 m.t./yr.
Zeon completes construction of new recycling plant for cyclo-olefin polymers
| By Mary Bailey